If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Reversal Of Fortunes

I've got to say that the swift reversal of fortunes last night was stunning to Rays fans and Yankees haters (of which I'm both). At the same time the Yankees had just been retired in the eighth inning trailing Baltimore 3-1, the Rays had just loaded the bases with two out in their 3-3 tie against the Angels with that game also in the bottom of the eighth. Practically simultaneously, both my rooting interests went south, with the Rays failing to score and then giving up the go-ahead and deciding run in the top of the ninth, and A-Rod (or as I like to call him, A-(something else) hitting a game winning homer for New York. Hopefully, the resulting Yankees' boost of confiedence and the Rays loss of first place will be only temporary. At this point, I'm not even sure who leads the season series, the Rays or the Yankees and who would be declared the division champion by tie-breaker, in case the season were to end in a tie. How many days in August were these two teams tied or within a half game or a game of eah other? At least 20 days, I believe. It's one of the nuttier races in recent memory. Of course either team is capable of pulling away, but that would be a bit anti-climactic. I look for the division race to go right down to the wire.

Wow...I just havent been able to get near here for a bunch of days....So the Rays SPLIT the Series in NY and close in 1/2 game behind the Yanxs..
The Seattle Series (and never mind Baltimore after that) have to be swept for any hope !!!

Cannot let down now. The schedule looks good on paper, but they have to bring the same passion and emotion they bring to Fenway and the new Yankee Stadium. So far, so good, up 5-3 going to the 8th tonight...

I am watching them go through the motions in KC tonight and cannot understand this team for the life of me. If being 1/2 game in front, with 4 to play cannot motivate these guys, what will? The announcer just said that in 38 of their 158 games played so far, they have had 5 hits or less! Yet Maddon and his hitting coach are giddy because they lead in runs scored (yet are last in BA). I am so sick and tired watching Upton and his backwards Ks, I could puke. They give away 20K tickets last night, and then proceed to get 3 hits and get shutout by 3 & 16 Kevin Millwood. Maddon is so maddening!!

He must lead all of MLB in called 3rd strikes. He has a hitch in his swing, where he lifts his left foot and pivots on the ball of his foot, and is easily fooled on sweeping breaking balls. Maddon's hitting philosophy of working the counts and trying to get walks has taken the aggressiveness out of the hitters. BJ gets down 0-2 in counts a lot, and guesses a lot, to where he gets himself out.

Well the handwriting has been on the wall the last 6 weeks with this team. A team with a bunch of .250 hitters that lives and dies with pitching and defense cannot advance when said pitching and defense deserts them, as well as the hitting. The last 3 home games have been sellouts, and the Rays have scored a total of 1 run in the last 27 innings. And some players call out the fans, saying come support us, we play better when there's a crowd that we can feed off of. The fans know what's going on, they gave Crawford a standing O in his last AB and chanted his name in the 9th inning, knowing he's moving on to richer pastures and there most likely won't be another home game at the Trop. I'm still shaking my head and wondering how we managed to get the best record in MLB with these lineups Maddon is running out there. After a 6 month marathon to win the AL East on the last day of the season, and then watch this putrid product the last 2 games, is such a dramatic kick in the stomach that it will take a while to reflect on the season as a whole for me.

Can someone explain why the poor attendance for a playoff game, just over 35000 fans showed up for a capacity stadium of almost 45000...

This is really bad for a great team like TB, and the worst think is TB window to win the WS is very short, maybe you have one more shot and that it...

35K+ was the capacity for these games, as there are tarps in the upper deck for obstructed seats (due to those damn catwalks blocking sight views), and other seats are so high up to the roof of the dome, the players would look like ants on a carpet. MLB considered both games sellouts due to all available tickets being sold. The seats were also covered in 2008 for the ALDS and ALCS, but MLB made the Rays take the tarps off for the World Series, then had to deal with the complaints that they ripped off fans selling tickets to seats that no one could see the game from.

Big tip of the cap to Cliff Lee. He was completely dominating the whole series and will be tough on the Yankees too.

This season was exciting and frustrating at the same time. 96 wins, winning the AL East, but wanting more, but knowing we probably got all we could out of this mixed bag of .250 hitters and super utility players. Out of the starting 8 most nights, only Crawford and Longoria would start for the majority of the teams in baseball. Pena a little less than half, his defense was still good, occasional power, but too many nights like last night. Strikeouts galore and a Mario Mendoza like average.

Kelly Shoppach was simply horrible all year, yet Maddon continues to run him out there. He set a record for the most Ks in a season in the fewest ABs. He was brought here to hit leftys, but he got injured in the first week of the season and was ineffective the next six months. He had the worst ERA of all our catchers for the pitchers he caught. Jaso should have played all 5 games of that series. Starting an injured Rocco Baldelli in game 1 was another strange wrong decision.

Soriano, Crawford, Pena and more than half the current bullpen will be gone in the offseason. All the SPs will be back, unless they deal one to fill a hole for a position we lose someone in. But the whole offensive philosophy of working pitch counts and waiting for walks needs to be reevaluated. That seemed to work over the course of the long season, but in a short series like this, our lack of hits and hitting in general was exposed. Throw in questionable defense and less than A games from Price and Shields doomed us. 2 runs in 3 home playoff games with sellout crowds was a huge downer. It just feels now like the last 6 months were a waste of time, as now we will head back to maybe .500 level, while the Red Sox retool and the Yankees keep winning and winning.